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4 weeks until.
‘Pro hero Lord Explosion Murder God Dynamight is on the scene!’
Katsuki landed on the paved road with a thud, pebbles and dust clouding around his boots. These conditions weren’t exactly ideal for him to be fighting in, the cold, snow falling onto the ground, it definitely wasn’t his type of weather. But he had learned ages ago that heroes would continue to fight, circumstances be damned. Even in a blizzard Katsuki was sure he could beat this low life villain.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He said with a vaguely sadistic grin, watching the villain as he cowered.
Just because he was the number 15 hero didn’t mean villains underestimated him, he had the strength to be the number 1 hero easily, it was just a matter of how well he handled civilians (hint: not very well) that was holding him back.
“Ha-Hang on!” The villain spluttered, dropping his duffle bag and falling back onto the pavement. “I didn’t mean to, I promise!”
Villains said that all the time to him, begging for mercy. He would understand if this was a simple robber, not someone who blew up an entire street. He didn’t know how many casualties there were yet, Deku and the extras were handling the evacuations while he went to catch the perpetrator, but he knew that it likely wouldn’t have the best outcome.
And right before Christmas too.
What a punk.
“Get on your feet, don’t make this harder for yourself.” The blonde said, stepping closer to the villain. He stopped suddenly and put his hands in front of his face to block whatever was about to happen when he saw the villain’s face turn from fearful to a twisted grin. Sure enough, a purple beam of energy ripped through the villain’s chest aiming straight for him.
“DYNAMIGHT!”
He was tackled off to the side, the only thing he could see was a yellow cape and green curly hair.
“Eh?! Deku?!” He cried out. “Get the hell off of me!”
Katsuki rolled the other pro off of him, getting onto his feet. “The hell are you doing here? You're handling evacuations aren’t you?”
“Uravity has it handled, I’m here to assist.” Izuku replied, earning a scowl from Katsuki.
“Fine, but stay out of my way, got it?”
Katsuki blasted towards the villain, not giving him a moment to react before his palm was on his face and he fired an explosion, shooting the villain to the ground. The force of the blast buried the villain into the pavement, rendering him pretty defenseless.
“You thought that just cause’ you got a flashy quirk you could compete with the big leagues, yeah?” Dynamight mocked. “Tch, you’re pathetic.”
The villain twitched under him, but that grin didn’t falter.
“Bye bye Dynamight.” His chest began glowing purple again.
Katsuki heard shifting behind him, Izuku preparing to step between them again.
“THAT’S LORD EXPLOSION MURDER GOD DYNAMIGHT TO YOU! And don’t even think about it!” He placed his free hand that wasn’t keeping the villain’s head trapped onto his chest, letting out small explosions to cancel out whatever the villain’s quirk was. “Deku! Make yourself useful and get me some handcuffs.”
“On it Lord Explosion Murder God Dynamight!” Izuku said as he went over to one of the police cars that had started surrounding the scene.
The villain groaned, Katsuki having taken the fight out of him as his eyes shut.
“Damn, must’ve hit him hard.” He muttered, standing up and moving out of the crater he had formed in the road.
Add property damage onto the list of reasons why Katsuki was sitting at the ranking he was.
“Here I got it.” Izuku said, pulling the villain up and trapping his hands in quirk cancelling handcuffs. “Jeez Kac- uh… Lord Explosion Murder God Dynamight… were you trying to kill him?”
“If he died cause’ of that measly hit then he had it coming!”
“Right…” The green haired hero replied sheepishly.
“You said Uravity’s on evacuation right?” Katsuki asked as they guided the unconscious villain to a stretcher.
“Yeah, thankfully the building was kind of empty… the villain probably had some sort of ties to it instead of it just being a random attack to cause casualties.” Izuku answered, before thanking the paramedics.
“What building even was it anyways?”
“A therapist’s office.”
“Guess that gives us a good idea.”
Katsuki clicked the safety switch on his gauntlets, which would create a more refined directed explosion for him to fly.
“You’re leaving already?” Izuku grabbed his shoulder.
Katsuki turned his head around. “Eh?”
“I mean… I just feel like I haven’t seen you in weeks.” Izuku said.
“Yeah? Well we’ve both been busy, nerd.” Katsuki responded, anger not really directed at Izuku in his tone.
“I mean… nobody has- you just kinda show up and then disappear.”
“You have my address, why don’t you just stop by yourself?”
Izuku pulled his hand away from Katsuki’s shoulder.
“Right uh… yeah you’re right, I’ll make sure to stop by some day!”
Katsuki didn’t miss the slightly disappointed tone in Izuku’s voice, but he just didn’t know why. “Yeah.”
And with that, Katsuki launched himself into the air, flying through the night sky.
At about 3 that night, or morning technically, Katsuki finally found himself unlocking the door to his shared apartment.
“Ey shitty hair.” He announced as he stepped inside. “I’m back.”
Kirishima, who usually did morning through afternoon patrols was spread on the couch with a bag of ice on his head.
“Damn, what happened to you?” Katsuki asked, looking over his friend.
“Hah, someone shot me in the face.”
If it were anyone else, Katsuki would be totally dumbfounded by the casual admission, but this was Red Riot: the unbreakable hero he was talking to. That probably just felt like a small rock being thrown at him.
“But anyways.”
The red haired hero rolled over onto his stomach, looking up at Katsuki. “Saw you on the news today, you sure gave that guy a beating.”
“I wasn’t even that rough.” Katsuki rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, that wouldn’t be that rough to someone like me, but to someone like him?”
“Whatever.” Katsuki hissed. “I’m going to sleep now.”
“Aww already?” Kirishima pouted.
“You should also sleep idiot, you’ve gotta get up in… two hours.” The blonde said, looking at the clock on the wall over the flat screen television.
“Nah, I’m off tomorrow.” Kirishima shrugged.
“Eh? Why?”
Kirishima blinked at him a couple times. “Cause… that’s my schedule? 5 days at work, 2 days off, Wednesdays and fridays? Y’know, you should really get a schedule like that, I don’t remember the last time you weren’t working.”
“Cause I’m not lazy.” Katsuki said, lightly smacking Kirishima on the head.
“Hey! I’m not either! But seriously man, you’re gonna kill yourself at this rate. You’ve been working way more than you usually have been.”
“Cause I gotta pick up for slackers like you.”
Of course Katsuki didn’t mean what he said, and Kirishima knew that. Honestly, besides Izuku, Kirishima is someone who Katsuki probably admired the most. Despite not having the ‘flashiest’ quirk, he still made it functional, something that made a name for himself. Even if he was a bit of a dunce sometimes, Kirishima is probably one of the most reliable people Katsuki knows.
“Yeah yeah whatever. Oh, you should check your messages. Mina invited everyone to her place for a christmas party.”
Kirishima put his phone in Katsuki’s face.
“Yeah yeah I’ll look at it or whatever.”
“Great, cause you missed our last get together.”
“I was at work.” Katsuki huffed.
“My point still stands, c’mon, it’ll be a nice break. Just think about it?” Kirishima pleaded with his stupid big red eyes.
“Fine, I’ll think about it.” Katsuki waved him off as he walked over to his bedroom, ignoring Kirishima’s small celebration of the small progress he had just made.
3 weeks until.
“Hang on.” Uraraka said, sipping on her cup of lavender boba tea. “So he just… left? Just like that?”
Izuku groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Yeah… I don’t know what I did but… he’s been different lately. Like… avoiding me, it’s really weird.”
Uraraka hummed. “Yeah I have noticed he’s been a bit distant, more than usual. I kinda hoped he was just busy, but he always makes time for you.”
“I know! He’s been weird ever since I… turned down joining his agency.” Izuku whispered the last part of his sentence.
“Hm?” Uraraka asked.
“I… I said I turned down joining his agency!” He blurted out.
Uraraka blinked at him a couple times.
“YOU DID WHAT?!”
“I- I don’t know! It’s all just been- I mean, I’m happy to be out in the field again and- I do want to keep working with Kacchan but… I don’t know, I guess I’m just scared I’m not as good as I used to be.”
“What do you mean by that?” Uraraka asked.
“People are expecting me to be as strong as I was back at U.A., but I’m not… if you had me fight All For One right now I don’t think I'd even come close to winning. I feel like I’m so far behind you all… I guess I just want to get my bearings as a pro and as a teacher before I can decide on something like that.” Izuku rested his cheek into his hands, looking at Uraraka, who he was sure was staring into his soul.
“I mean… that does make sense but…” She placed a hand on Izuku’s, rubbing his thumb. “I don’t think you’re behind any of us Izuku.”
A smile formed on his lips. “Thanks, Uraraka. I… I think I should just… tell him that don’t you?”
She raised an eyebrow. “You mean… you didn’t already?”
“No I- I guess I just found out how to put it into words now…?” He responded sheepishly.
Uraraka chuckled. “You’re a dork.”
“So… what do you think about those rumors?” Uraraka asked as they walked through the calm city streets, a cold breeze passing by their faces.
“Hm?” Izuku asked.
“That we’re… y’know… a thing?”
Izuku’s face turned bright red. “Oh I mean- we’re not so- I guess there’s no use thinking about it.” He rambled.
The brown haired hero laughed, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. “I mean… back at U.A. I did like you I have to admit but… now that I look back on it I guess it was just… admiration? You were always the type of hero I wanted to be.”
Izuku hummed, relaxing significantly. “Yeah, I guess I felt the same way. That’s probably why I haven’t really felt the need to tell the press that we’re not together, people are gonna speculate no matter what but… all that matters to me is that we both know where we stand y’know?”
Uraraka nodded. “Yeah… Tsu did ask me about it though.”
“Really?” Izuku asked.
“Mhm, I told her no of course so I assume she told everyone else.”
“Probably since- I haven’t heard about it from anyone else.”
The two fell into a comfortable silence for a couple minutes until Uraraka decided to ask.
“Oh by the way, are you going to Mina’s Christmas get together?”
“Yeah, probably.” Izuku replied. “The students are gonna be on break already, so unless I get wrapped into something as Deku then I’ll be free.”
“How’s that going, anyways?”
“Teaching?”
“Yeah, must be a handful.”
The green haired hero shrugged. “It can be but- it’s fun. My students are learning a ton, most of them did internships with really cool heroes! Some of them are gonna do more over the break.”
“I have one of your students actually, Kugisami.” Uraraka said.
“Oh yeah I heard about that! How’s she doing?”
“Really good, she’s working with Tsu today out at the beach. Hopefully it’ll be an easy day.”
Izuku chuckled, “You know better than to say something will be an easy day.”
“Hah, yeah you’re right. I mean, with the holiday season- anything could happen.”
“Like a cult trying to wipe out 80% of the population?” Izuku joked.
“Yeah like that.. Speaking of which, have you talked to him lately?”
“Who, Rody? Yeah, I have a bit. Pretty sure he’s in America right now.”
He had been deployed over to Japan for a smaller scale crisis which is how he and Uraraka met. They surprisingly got along pretty well, Uravity being his little sister, Lala’s, favorite hero. Unfortunately though, with Rody living in Europe their paths rarely crossed now.
“That’s good, tell him I said hi, I don’t think I got his number last time.” Uraraka said.
“I will, I can send you his number if you want? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.” Izuku replied, pulling out his phone.
“Up to you, anyways though I should probably get going. I have an afternoon to evening shift and it’s like… 11 right now. It was fun taking you though!”
“Yeah, definitely!” Izuku said as they hugged each other as a farwell. Well at least for a day or so before they would meet up again.
Ever since the get-together they had to celebrate Shoto’s ranking at the number 2 spot, he and Uraraka had been talking a lot more. It felt as if they disconnected- albeit naturally from each other. It wasn’t like Uraraka had been avoiding him, nor had he been avoiding her, it just happened that way. Now though that their schedules aligned better, they were able to see each other much more which Izuku was grateful for. She was always special to him, being the first person he made friends with at U.A., and he wanted to make sure that she knew that- just like Katsuki told him.
Which, now that he thought about that, things hadn’t been the same between him and his childhood friend since that night.
Was it just because he turned down joining his agency?
Or was there something else?
2 weeks until
Kirishima tapped his fingers anxiously on the kitchen counter, staring at his phone.
‘Still no RSVP’ he thought to himself.
He and Katsuki decided to share an apartment with each other after U.A. It made things way easier for them both price wise, and also being around someone familiar as they adjusted to their new lives was comforting in a way. Now, Katsuki was always… Katsuki. Loud, insulting, his friend really. Okay now that he thought about it, those weren’t really the adjectives Kirishima would use to describe him if he was asked.
‘ Manly! ’ He once told an interviewer.
He was one of the first friends he made at U.A., when he decided to totally change his life around. It had been about a decade since then, they were both adults now navigating their lives in the spotlight.
Despite his… rather negative interactions with the press, Katsuki had been doing a good job adjusting. Putting a stop to hundreds of villains in his first year, working to help fund a hero suit from America for Izuku. But now it felt like Katsuki was totally different. He wasn’t the most affectionate person, but he still always put aside time for all his friends.
It feels as if something about Katsuki had changed, and Kirishima knew it wasn’t just him being ‘busy.’
‘Hey man, you gonna RSVP with Mina or nah?’ He shot a message to Katsuki only to find that his phone buzzed on the other side of the room.
“Damn.” He muttered, deciding to put that conversation off for later.
“Have you seen this Midoriya?” Aizawa deadpanned, showing Izuku his phone as he put in absence logs.
Izuku looked at the article, a viral meme about… Katsuki? It definitely isn’t the first time that’s happened, but as he looked at it he couldn’t help but wonder.
‘The most random places fans have spotted pro hero Lord Explosion Murder God Dynamight sleeping.’
“Huh, mind if I look through really quick?”
Aizawa nodded, allowing Izuku to hold the red cased phone in his hands as he scrolled through the article.
One on top of a building, one on a park bench…
“Weird, he’s living with Kirishima- I doubt he’d be kicked out or something.”
“He’s been taking a lot of night shifts.” Aizawa said as he pocketed his phone once Izuku handed it back. “And day shifts… he’s practically working himself half to the grave.”
“Yeah I’ve... I’ve noticed something off with him.” Izuku sighed.
“If anyone can find out what’s going on, it's gonna be you, problem child.” He said putting a hand on his shoulder.
Over the last 8 years, Aizawa has kept a close eye on all his former students. He wasn’t one to watch the news very often, especially not related to pop culture, the only thing he used to really keep track of things was Mic’s radio show that he listened to, yet he was always the first to hear about these kinds of things. It was sometimes funny to Izuku, but right now all he could focus on was finding out what was going on with his friend.
1 week until.
“Hey man! Jeez, you’re finally back.” Kirishima said as he entered the apartment to find Katsuki barely awake on the couch. “Crap, were you asleep? My bad dude.”
“Wasn’t asleep shitty hair, it’s fine.” Katsuki grumbled, waving Kirishima off. His hair was wet, plus he didn’t smell as bad as Kirishima thought someone who had been sleeping out in the streets and fighting villains day and night would smell, so he probably just got out of the shower.
“Where have you been? I haven’t seen you around in like… a week.” Kirishima sat at the far end of the couch.
“I’ve just been working late. Sleeping at my agency or whatever.”
“Y’know, it’s probably not safe to sleep out in the open like that… I mean- a villain could come and get you when you’re most vulnerable.”
Katsuki barked out a laugh “If they tried that then they’d just be plain stupid.”
Kirishima shrugged, at least Katsuki had a bit of a point… still though.
“You gonna be sticking around now?”
“I have work tonight.”
“Again?” Kirishima asked, exasperated.
“What do you mean again?” Katsuki growled.
“Come on dude, I haven’t seen you take a break since- since… hang on a second.”
Katsuki cocked an eyebrow as Kirishima thought out loud.
“Since that night we all got together for Todobro’s party… when Midoriya- is that what this is about?!”
“The hell are you talking about?” Katsuki replied, propping himself on his elbows.
“When Midoriya turned down joining your agency! That’s when you started acting all mopey! You’re upset!” Kirishima said as if he had just discovered fire.
“That’s not it.” Katsuki groaned, laying back down with a dramatic flop.
“Oh come on, you two have been talking about working together as heroes for god knows how long, I mean even I was shocked when he turned you down but… I mean, he is just starting out being a pro again- must be pretty overwhelming if I had to guess.”
“I told you that’s not why.” Katsuki huffed, rolling over onto his side.
“So what is it then?” Kirishima asked, unbelieving of Katsuki’s flimsy excuse.
“It’s nothing.”
Kirishima knew he was treading a thin line. Like walking in a minefield… literally.
“Come on man- you gotta tell someone-”
Katsuki shot up “It isn’t just about the damn agency! He chose her over me, it doesn’t matter!”
He didn’t give Kirishima any time to process what the hell he had just said before he stormed out of the apartment, grabbing his hero-suitcase on the way out.
“...what?”
Uraraka tapped her foot at the kaitenzushi place that they had all agreed to meet each other at. Plates of all different types of sushi passed her, she had already gotten a couple of her own.
“Uraraka!” Izuku waived, sitting next to her.
“Oh, hey Izuku! Have you seen Kirishima anywhere?” She asked, looking around the restaurant.
“Hm, not yet.” Izuku replied.
That’s when the spotted long spiky bright red hair made its way through the crowd.
“Hey guys! Sorry I’m late!” Kirishima laughed sheepishly.
“It’s alright Kirishima, I just got here anyways.”
Uraraka nodded in agreement, although she was the earliest she didn’t really mind waiting.
“Great, glad you guys could come on short notice but I just- uh… I wanted to talk to you guys about something.” He said.
“Is it about…”
“Kacchan?”
Uraraka said, before Izuku finished her sentence.
Kirishima stared at them for a couple seconds. “Yeah, yeah it is… okay I guess I’ll just be a bit frank here, and usually I don’t ask these types of questions since it’s totally out of the blue but…”
“Are you two dating?”
Silence.
More silence.
“What?” Uraraka asked.
“I know it’s a totally weird question but- well I’ll explain more I just need to know.” Kirishima added.
“No, no we’re not dating I… I thought Tsu would’ve already told you that.” The brunette replied.
“Guess she decided to keep that to herself huh… but anyways…” It seems as if Uraraka’s words finally registered in his brain. “Wait, you guys aren’t?”
“No!” Izuku said. “What gave you that idea?”
“Well… uh…” Kirishima scratched the back of his head. “That’s sorta what I wanted to talk to you guys about… now, usually I wouldn’t share this since doing that is so unmanly but… Katsuki’s my friend and I’m worried about him.”
“We won’t tell anyone.” Uraraka said. “We’ve also been worried about him but… what does this have to do with what you just asked us?”
“Okay well you see. A couple days ago Katsuki came back to our apartment finally and I tried talking to him… I realized that things haven’t been the same since that night you turned him down Midoriya. Which I mean, there’s nothing wrong with you doing that but I guess it was just a bit shocking. Anyways though, he said he didn’t care about the agency thing and that… uh… you chose ‘her’ over him… Now, he didn’t say exactly who ‘her’ was but I mean. I can put two and two together.”
Kirishima’s rant left Izuku and Uraraka completely speechless.
“Wait… what?”
4 days until
Aizawa was never expected to be back out in the field after the war. With his quirk at a severe disadvantage due to the loss of his eyes, and the leg that he lost, most people expected that Eraserhead would retire shortly after.
But then again, most people didn’t really know Eraserhead that well.
If you asked someone like Present Mic, or if you had asked Midnight, they would’ve said you would have to put Shota on his deathbed to keep him down. As he said, for as long as he’s alive, and for as long as he can use his quirk, he would be useful.
And that same grace goes to his students. No matter how many years passed, class 1-A will always be under his guidance. It didn’t help that they were constantly blowing his phone up over the most miniscule things until he had to set the ground rule that he’s not to be contacted unless it was an emergency.
But that was neither here nor there, right now one of his students needed at least one more lesson from him (though considering which student it was, this definitely wasn’t the last.)
“Dynamight.” Aizawa deadpanned over the sleeping body on the rooftop of an insurance company. He refused to say Bakugo’s full hero name.
Katsuki startled awake, putting out his palm towards the voice. He did at least have the self control not to try and blast Aizawa to kingdom come, not that the teacher would have let that happen anyways
“What the- what the hell are you doing here?” Katsuki sat up.
Aizawa crouched to his level. “I work night shifts around this area. The better question is what are you doing here.”
Katsuki huffed “Just taking a nap before I get back to work myself.”
“You’re not scheduled for this area. Y’know, there’s a reason hero agencies communicate with each other so not too many heroes are stationed in one place. Plus, it’s a nice heads up on who’s in the area.” Aizawa said.
“Yeah. I’ll make sure to let you know next time.” Katsuki replied dismissively.
Aizawa hummed. “What’s been going on with you?”
“Why does everyone keep asking that?!” Katsuki retorted.
“Because you keep acting like this.” Aizawa shot back instantly.
Aizawa didn’t need to reach Katsuki’s volume to get him to listen. They both knew that very well.
Katsuki scoffed, “It sounds stupid when I say it out loud.”
“It looks even more irrational if you’re just doing this for no apparent reason.”
The blonde sighed knowing it would probably be hard to get out of this situation. Besides, it’s not like Aizawa would announce it to anyone. But how could he help? Maybe he’d get it through his thick skull.
“Izuku rejected me.”
“...what?”
“I offered him to join my agency.” Katsuki explained. “And he said no. So I told him how I felt, and he went off and started dating round face.”
“I need you to slow down.” Aizawa said, trying to connect everything in his brain. “So, you’re jealous about Midoriya and Uraraka’s relationship… though I’m not sure where you got sources on that, and because of this you’ve been sulking for weeks.”
“I don’t need sources, it’s pretty damn obvious!” Bakugo argued.
“So you’re basing all this off of assumptions.”
“Inferences!”
“Assumptions. Anyways.”
Aizawa sighed and dragged his hand down his face, groaning something about not being equipped to handle this.
“Midoriya, ever since you two were students, has always been absolutely… smitten for you.”
Katsuki wondered why he had to put it like that.
“And you him. What exactly did you tell him?”
Katsuki bit the inside of his lip. “I told him that he treats everyone the same way, he acts as if everyone is equally special to him… and that because he does that no one is actually special.”
Aizawa waited a couple seconds for Katsuki to continue. “Is… that all?”
Katsuki nodded.
“Bakugo… that isn’t a confession, and it isn’t a rejection.”
“Then hell do you mean it isn’t?”
“Well…” Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose “You do have a point about him treating everyone the same way, it’s a noble trait but I guess sometimes it gives off the wrong idea. But you are the exception to him, he’s always treated you differently than everyone else… he even calls you by a different name.”
“Yeah, a name he gave me when we were kids, so what?” Katsuki crossed his arms on his knees.
“A name he continued to use even in adulthood. I don’t think I’ve ever even heard him use your name.”
“That doesn’t mean anything!”
“My point is.” Aizawa stood up, putting a hand on Katsuki’s shoulder. “What you told him wasn’t telling him how you actually felt. Not explicitly at least, so it’s irrational to count that as a rejection. Uraraka has always been a close friend to him, he may have just wanted to show her that… it doesn’t mean he ‘chose her’ over you.”
Bakugo stared at his teacher for a couple seconds. “Tch… guess you’re right old man.”
The night of
“Hey, Katsuki.” Kirishima used his hands to hold him up as he leaned into Katsuki’s room. He had been a bit better lately, so Kirishima was in high hopes that he would’ve pulverized his face when he said “Ready for Mina’s Christmas party?”
Katsuki, who had been busy looking at his computer, cocked an eyebrow “I never RSVP’d what are you talking about.”
Kirishima stood up right and replied sheepishly “ Well I kinda uh… already RSVP’d for you for the get together tonight.”
His eye twitched “What.”
“Come on Kats! What’s the worst that can happen? I know you probably don’t wanna see them but there’s other people who wanna see you! Plus it might help you move on or something I don’t know.”
This had to work, Kirishima didn’t know what to do if it wouldn’t.
Katsuki sighed and shut his laptop, Kirishima prepared for the worst before
“Fine, just get out so I can get ready.”
“Sweet!”
“C’mon man, I’m sure it’ll be fun!” Kirishima said, stepping out of the passenger side of Katsuki’s car out into the chilly air.
Christmas Eve.
Katsuki was never that big on Christmas, or any holiday for that matter, but it definitely wasn’t his lead holiday No, that title went to valentines day.
Regardless.
“Yeah whatever, if there’s an after party or whatever I’m leaving you here, you can find your own ride back.” He replied gruffly.
“Alright alright.” Kirishima snickered approaching the front door of Mina’s residence, carrying two boxes for the ‘secret santa’ event they were holding. Though, he had bought the gift both from him to Sero and from Katsuki to Tsu. It was a nice house, with a modern exterior, modern interior. There was a garden out front with stones and a small pond that almost made it look like a forest. They walked down the path up to the front door, looking through the glass walls they could see most people were already there.
“Kiri!” Mina cheered, pulling Kirishima into a bone crushing hug. “Oh my god you actually got him to show up!”
“Aww, did you really not think I could?” Kirishima teasingly pouted.
Mina laughed before pulling them inside.
“You guys already know your way around the place so go ahead and make yourselves at home.” The pink haired girl said.
Katsuki looked around the- in his opinion, excessively decorated house. Then again, he can’t exactly talk after what he did to the common area when there was a decorating contest during their third year at U.A.
By the time he stopped looking around, Kirishima was gone, playing WII sports with Kaminari. He was going to approach the couch which had Momo, Todoroki, Sero, and Mina all crowded around Kirishima and Kaminari as they played golf on the TV screen when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, Bakugo.”
It was Uraraka?
“Eh? The hell do you want?” He asked in no different of a tone than what he would use to talk to anyone else.
He didn’t have anything against Uraraka, that would be absolutely ridiculous, even Katsuki knew that. They were friends, not that Katsuki would ever say it out loud, but he was still put off my her oddly serious expression, the type that usually only came out when she was on some sort of mission.
“Hey, can you come with me for a second? It’s important.”
Katsuki tried to look around, scanning each person. Everyone was there. Everyone except.
“Sure.”
Izuku.
He followed Uraraka into a long stretch of a hallway; there were about 5 rooms on each side, most of which were storage rooms or offices, except for the final room on his right side which was a guest room.
“What do you want?” He asked, expecting them to stop there.
“Knock on the door.” She motioned as if it was obvious. Then again, it sort of was with how she made sure Katsuki was standing right in front of the wooden door.
He gave her an odd look before knocking three times.
“Come in!”
He looked at her again who just gave him a thin lipped smile before walking away.
“What the hell?”
He was about to go after her before the door opened.
“Oh, Kacchan there you are. I was kind of worried you weren’t gonna show up.”
Izuku pulled him into the bare guest room. The walls were an off-white color and the only current light source came from the giant window that showed the outside garden.
“What did you want?” he asked, vaguely worried as Izuku shut the door behind them.
“Sit down.” He said.
Katsuki did as he was told, sitting at the edge of the bed. Izuku stood in front of him with his arms crossed, that same determined look Uraraka had.
“You’ve been ignoring me.” He scolded Katsuki like he was a child.
“I told you I’ve been busy.” Katsuki replied sharply.
“What did you mean by ‘I chose uraraka’?” Izuku asked, choosing to get straight to the point, leaving Katsuki speechless for a couple seconds.
“I’m gonna kill shitty hair.” He murmured, recognizing this all as a trap. He tried to stand up but Izuku quickly pushed him back down.
“Answer the question Kacchan. I… I just want to know why things have been so different between us.” Izuku sighed.
Katsuki groaned. There really was no getting out of this. “You idiot.”
He put his head down as he continued.
“You made your choice so what does it matter?”
“What choice?!” Izuku snapped. “I keep hearing about this choice but what even is it!”
“You know what it is!” Katsuki argued. “You chose to be with round face!”
“What are you talking about Kacchan!”
“Don’t play dumb Izuku! I know you two are together, I’m happy for you I am but I…” He buried his head into his hands suddenly feeling really stupid as he said his feelings aloud. “I wish I was more clear with you that night instead of you using what I said to get with Uraraka.”
“Get with- Kacchan.”
Katsuki felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Uraraka and I aren’t together.”
What.
“The hell do you mean you aren’t?!”
“What do you mean ‘what do you mean’!” Izuku cried “I said we aren’t together!”
“But you guys- then what’s with you guys always blushing around each other and crap like that! You guys have practically been attached at the hip since that night!” Katsuki figured that Izuku had already caught on to which night he was referring to.
“I blush at everyone Kacchan and you know that!”
He did know that.
So why did it feel so different?
“Yeah but-”
Izuku put a finger on his lips, shushing him. “I’m talking right now.”
That did a good job at shutting him up, plus the feeling that if he spoke his voice might make a terrible crack.
“You said that I need to show the people who are special to me that… They are special to me. That I need to stop treating everyone the exact same and… you’re right, I do that because everyone is important to me. But the thing is, Uraraka was the first friend I made at U.A., she is special to me… and I felt like I never really showed her that. But with you, I figured you already knew where we stood, that you are the most important person in my life Kacchan.”
Katsuki stared at him at a loss for words, suddenly feeling like a total oblivious jackass.
He took his finger off of Katsuki’s lip, allowing him to speak.
“I…”
Or, try to at least.
Izuku sighed and sat next to him on the bed. He leaned his head on Katsuki’s shoulder, which at one point in time would have probably made the explosive boy… well, explode, both literally and metaphorically, but all he could do now was look over at the others’ soft green curls, the star-like freckles that littered his face (43 to be exact, Katsuki has indeed counted), and his half lidded green eyes that were directed at nothing specifically.
“Damn it Izuku, now I feel like an idiot.”
Izuku chuckled a bit “Well…”
Suddenly his face fell, he looked at Katsuki. “But is that what this all was about? I mean, I just- I don’t get why it would matter so much if Uraraka and I were together.”
Katsuki’s eye twitched.
“What do you mean you don’t understand why I-”
‘ That’s not a confession. ’ He remembered Aizawa’s words.
“I’ve never cared much saying exactly what I feel because you’ve always been good at picking up on it anyway, but I guess with something like this it’s unfair Izuku I… for a while I- dammit, I’ve fallen in love with you and I have for just about a decade now. I hate that I was such an idiot as a kid that I couldn’t see it then, and that by the time I did it was too late but I can’t spend another damn day keeping this to myself watching as you go on without me, that I can’t be at your side.”
It was probably the most vulnerable Katsuki had ever been. He braced himself for the worse, for Izuku to let him down in the kindest way because of course he would. He knew Izuku wouldn’t laugh at him, or yell at him, even though it would probably hurt less.
“Kacchan..” He whispered before Katsuki felt a hand on his chin. Before he could react, Izuku was pulling him close until they met in a soft and yet such a driven kiss.
Katsuki wouldn’t have minded if it lasted an eternity, if he could just get lost in this feeling. Their heartbeats felt in sync. When they pulled away breathing softly Katsuki finally felt whole, as if a weight lifted from his shoulders, like the gods giving Atlas a brief moment of clarity.
“I feel the same way Kacchan. I- I wish I would’ve noticed sooner… hah, I guess you’re right about me noticing the most obvious things, but I guess that goes for you too doesn’t it?” Izuku teased.
Katsuki playfully shoved him off the bed, making Izuku fall over on the ground. “Shut it nerd.”
“Yeah yeah, you know I’m right though.”
“It wasn’t the sensors messing you up, you’re just bad at the game!”
The remaining people at the party, that being Kirishima, Kaminari, Todoroki, Uraraka, Mina, along with of course Izuku and Bakugo were seated around the TV watching as Kaminari teased Kirishima about losing against Todoroki and his freakishly good (and random) dancing skills. Katsuki sat on the edge of the couch, Izuku laying his head on his shoulder with Uraraka next to him, whom he had already apologized to about leaving on ignore for a couple weeks, and he had also agreed to giving her agency some of his missions.
‘Guess I had that one coming didn’t I?’
Izuku yawned, his eyes barely open.
“Tch. You better not fall asleep on me.” Katsuki said, flicking Izuku on the forehead.
“I won't, I won't.” He murmured.
“I can drive him home if you want to stick around for a bit.” Uraraka said, afterall she was the one who drove him there in the first place.
“Up to him.” Katsuki shrugged. “Besides, I’m probably gonna leave whenever shitty hair’s done.”
Kirishima got behind them, resting his forearms on the back of the couch. “Hm? We can head out now if you want. Or I mean, I can grab a ride from someone if you want to take off with Midoriya.”
“Yeah I can always bring him back once I finish kicking his ass at this!” Kaminari offered waving his remote in the air.
Izuku looked up at him and shrugged “It’s up to you, I don’t really mind whatever.”
Katsuki thought for a couple seconds.
“I’ll go ahead and take him back to his place.” He said. “Get up, I’m not carrying you.”
Uraraka chuckled as Izuku rolled onto the ground, dusting his pants off.
“Yeah alright I know.” He said.
Uraraka walked out with them, figuring that she might as well head back to her place too. Katsuki and Izuku both waved as she pulled out of the curbside before they got into Katsuki’s car. It was about midnight so the streets were quiet. Snow fell onto the houses illuminated with Christmas lights of all different colors, red, green, painting a view almost out of a picture book.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” He asked.
Izuku yawned as he adjusted his seatbelt.
“Not sure. If you want to stop by tomorrow you can if you’re not gonna stay the night?”
Katsuki bit the inside of his lip “What if I did stay the night?”
Izuku smiled, “Then I guess I’ll spend Christmas with you.”